UCLA Ziman Center becomes an institute after 25 years of growth

Twenty-five years after its founding, UCLA's Ziman Center for Real Estate has entered a new chapter as the UCLA Richard S. Ziman Institute for Real Estate and Urban Economics.

Based at the UCLA Anderson School of Management, the newly designated institute reflects a growing mission that reaches across campus, bringing together researchers, students and industry leaders to tackle some of the most pressing challenges facing cities and communities.

Established in 2001 through a founding gift from real estate executive and philanthropist Richard S. Ziman, the center was created to connect academic research with the real estate profession. What began with a focus on real estate finance and management education has evolved into a broad multidisciplinary research enterprise exploring the ways in which factors like housing, labor markets, transportation, public health, public finance and natural disasters, including wildfires, affect urban life.

The institute's expanded reach includes collaborations with UCLA's School of Law, Luskin School of Public Affairs, Fielding School of Public Health, Department of Economics, Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, cityLAB and other campus partners. Its educational programs have also grown, offering fellowships, mentorship and hands-on training in affordable housing development. This fall, UCLA launched a new undergraduate real estate minor, welcoming its inaugural class of 80 students.

"The Ziman Center has long reflected UCLA's commitment to scholarship, education and service, bringing research and knowledge to bear on some of the most important challenges facing our communities," said UCLA Chancellor Julio Frenk. "Its evolution into the Ziman Institute recognizes the breadth of that work and creates new opportunities for collaboration across the university. I look forward to seeing how these connections deepen the institute's impact in the years ahead."

Read the full story on the UCLA Anderson website.